diff --git a/manila/share/drivers/cephfs/driver.py b/manila/share/drivers/cephfs/driver.py
index 620b3703e6..f8c3fed1a1 100644
--- a/manila/share/drivers/cephfs/driver.py
+++ b/manila/share/drivers/cephfs/driver.py
@@ -1196,6 +1196,13 @@ class NFSClusterProtocolHelper(NFSProtocolHelperMixin, ganesha.NASHelperBase):
         else:
             export_ips.append(vip)
 
+        # there are no export IPs, there are no NFS servers we can use
+        if not export_ips:
+            msg = _("There are no NFS servers available to use. "
+                    "Please check the health of your Ceph cluster "
+                    "and restart the manila share service.")
+            raise exception.ShareBackendException(msg=msg)
+
         return export_ips
 
     def check_for_setup_error(self):
diff --git a/manila/tests/share/drivers/cephfs/test_driver.py b/manila/tests/share/drivers/cephfs/test_driver.py
index c53b113f25..f02b16b443 100644
--- a/manila/tests/share/drivers/cephfs/test_driver.py
+++ b/manila/tests/share/drivers/cephfs/test_driver.py
@@ -1265,6 +1265,27 @@ class NFSClusterProtocolHelperTestCase(test.TestCase):
         type(self._nfscluster_protocol_helper).nfs_clusterid = (
             mock.PropertyMock(return_value='fs-manila'))
 
+    def test_get_export_ips_no_backends(self):
+        fake_conf = configuration.Configuration(None)
+        cluster_info = {
+            "fs-manila": {
+                "virtual_ip": None,
+                "backend": []
+            }
+        }
+
+        driver.rados_command.return_value = json.dumps(cluster_info)
+
+        helper = driver.NFSClusterProtocolHelper(
+            self._execute,
+            fake_conf,
+            rados_client=self._rados_client,
+            volname=self._volname
+        )
+
+        self.assertRaises(exception.ShareBackendException,
+                          helper._get_export_ips)
+
     @ddt.data(constants.ACCESS_LEVEL_RW, constants.ACCESS_LEVEL_RO)
     def test_allow_access_rw_ro(self, mode):
         access_allow_prefix = "nfs export apply"
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/bug-1990150-cephadm-cephnfs-backend-fails-start-raise-exc-7459302bf662fdd6.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/bug-1990150-cephadm-cephnfs-backend-fails-start-raise-exc-7459302bf662fdd6.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..06ca022842
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/bug-1990150-cephadm-cephnfs-backend-fails-start-raise-exc-7459302bf662fdd6.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    When deploying Manila CephFS NFS with cephadm, the manila share
+    service fails to start with the error "Backend cephfsnfs supports
+    neither IPv4 nor IPv6". This happens because the NFS Ganesha
+    daemon fails to start for some reason, and therefore the driver
+    never gets the location of the NFS Ganesha service that will be
+    used as the backend. We rely on the operator to make sure the CephFS
+    NFS cluster is available when initializing the driver. With this fix in
+    place, we raise an exception to explicitly notify the operator and
+    allow them to take further action.